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6 - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Hohn hones in on 'U'
Worst anniversary gift ever... or best, if you're into that.
True Bood dres
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lar van
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brought
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porary
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the stor
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the seri
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Not
didn't h
duced s.
ly mean
charact
of direc
D show remains Jason's (Ryan Kwanten) run-in
with the vagrant werepanther
uilty pleasure addicts is almost too uncomfort-
able to watch, while Arlene's (Car-
pite stagnation rie Preston) baby mama drama is
nothing short of ridiculous.
By KELLY ETZ The addition of so many new
DailyArts Writer characters has the vampires tak-
ing a back seat for most of the
e midst of a hugely popu- fourth season, withEric's (Alexan-
spire phenomenon, "True der Skarsgard) loss of memory and
emerged as the vampire subsequent irrational kindness as
o watch. the only major twist. At least it's a
by Alan change of pace, but it's easy to miss
Six Feet the throat-ripping, skull-crushing,
and True Blood Viking badass. And who wouldn't?
to life Eric's total rejection of anything
BO, the Season 4 Finale resembling sentimentality is what
as much HB0 made him so enjoyable to watch in
tatement the first place.
contem- Sundays at 9 p.m. The romance between Eric and
society Sookie finally comes to a head but
tn ass-kicking, blood-suck- is ultimately unexciting. With
11 ride. new story arcs popping up all
tn four begins a year after the time, the love triangle drama
le of season three, provid- between Eric, Sookie and Bill
much-needed time lapse. (Stephan Moyer) feels tired and
s seasons have returned to overworked. When Sookie finally
y only about a week later, makes her non-choice and cuts ties
little room for character with both, the whole drawn-out
In jumping a year ahead, messajust proves extra pointless. A
es is finally allowing the lot of similarly pointless storylines
ers to move on with their weigh the season down, most of
which are not completely wrapped
that the leap forward up in the season finale. This leaves
ave its blind spots: It pro- a lot of loose threads to deal with
everal inane and ultimate- in season five.
ingless plot threads, with As compared to previous "True
ers meandering in all sorts Blood" season finales, this one is
tions. Two of the worst: a bit anticlimactic, with a lot of
talk but minimal action. The most
notable scene in the episode is
the death of Tara. Since she's not
a beloved character, it's almost a
relief to see her go. The finale also
wraps up the conflict with Mar-
nie (Fiona Shaw, "Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows Part 1")
the necromancer, but doesn't give
enough credence to the death of
Jesus (Kevin Alejandro, "South-
land"), who emerged as a season
hero of sorts. In the end, it elicits
more laughable moments than
was probably intended, especially
with the emergence of the ghosts,
which goes beyond cheesy.
Previously, "True Blood" has
been much more believable. While
the premise is pure fantasy, the
beauty of previous seasons lay
in their ability to set up this fic-
tional world in a fairly realistic
setting. The original starting
point of the series was that vam-
pires had "come out of the coffin"
into normal society. In that way,
"True Blood" worked asa satire on
modern culture as well as an over-
the-top mash of blood, sex and vio-
lence.
Though season four did prove
entertaining, it stretched itself a
little too far and ended up losing
that all-important connection to
reality. And though "True Blood"
remains the epitome of a guilty
pleasure, the uninspired sea-
son four proved even HBO isn't
immune to a misstep.
By ANNA SADOVSKAYA
Daily Arts Writer
Donovan Hohn, author of the
best-selling book "Moby-Duck,"
recipient of the Whiting Writ-
er's Award and features editor
of GQ magazine, had not always
planned on becoming a writer.
"When I was 11 years old I
had narrowed it down to three
things," Hohn said in an inter-
view with The Michigan Daily.
"It was between marine biolo-
gist, poet and priest. By process
of elimination I became a poet."
After nixing priesthood and
falling short in a chemistry class
in high school, Hohn turned to
poets and authors for guidance
on living the life of a writer.
"I had this notion, per-
haps because I read Thoreau's
'Walden,' that I would choose to
live modestly and make it work,
which was idealistic and naive,"
Hohn said.
After graduating from Bos-
ton University with a Master of
Arts, Hohn spent the next few
years in New York City living
out his "starving artist" dream
and bartending at a caf6. When
his wife decided to go back to
school, Hohn applied with her
and the two were accepted to
the University. Both graduated
from the University with Mas-
ter of Fine Arts degrees. Gradu-
ates of the University's MFA
program often go on to become
tenured-track professors at
universities all over the Unit-
ed States, and many have won
prestigious literary awards.
Hohn's decision to return to
school was based on his less-
than-positive experience at Bos-
ton University in the Master of
Arts program. Hohn felt he was
too young and inexperienced for
that program.
"But the two years at Michi-
gan were transformative for me,"
he said. "The exposure and the
involvement that this program
requires of its writers in the aca-
demic community - I loved it."
Hohn spent the two years
immersed in the culture and the
intellectual world of the Univer-
sity, where he finally felt com-
fortable and at ease with the
direction his writing took.
"It affected my writing in
wonderful ways, and it was really
here that I felt the voice that was
4
4
Donovan Hohn received his MFA from the University.
mine a
was mi
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years."
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True S
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Hoh
ney th:
him on
world.
.nd a kind of writing that genre of "Moby-Duck," Hohn
ne," Hohn said. "It felt like admitted that, considering the
through during those two distance he physically and liter-
arily traveled, it was difficult to
n received multiple Hop- pinpoint one style that the work
Awards during his time took on.
University. Among other "It could be thought of as
in 2008 he received the travel writing, science writing
ig award, which is given and environmental reporting,"
ters without forewarning Hohn said. "For me it's not such
wledge of nomination. He an unclassifiable mongrel: It is
while he was finishing his a travel narrative, and many of
book, "Moby-Duck: The the books I was thinking about
tory of 28,800 Bath Toys and influenced by use that travel
t Sea and of the Beach- narrative form."
rs, Oceanographers, He added: "Like travel writ-
nmentalists, and Fools, ing, the stories I like the most
ing the Author, Who are both journeys through space
and time, but also journeys of
the mind where your thoughts
Duck' a begin in one place and end in
another, which is what essays do
vel narrative and the book merges those two
concepts together."
out bath toys Hohn discussed this and
t s other topics on his current visit
Hohn's first. to the University as a speaker of
the Zell Visiting Writers Series.
The series brings acclaimed
writers to the University com-
n Search of Them." The munity, providing the the oppor-
a marriage of non-fiction tunity to communicate with and
'himsical travel journal- learn more about the visiting
lls the story of a batch of writers.
st at sea in 1992. Before joining the MFA pro-
ired by authors such as gram at the University, Hohn
le, Evan Connell and David spent his time at Harper's maga-
men, "Moby-Duck" sends zine as an editor, havingchanced
on a wild goose chase. upon the position due to the
at started as a former stu- large number of Harper's mem-
essay on his love of rubber bers dining at the cafe Hohn
turned into Hohn's prima- worked at. Hohn was recently
rest. He began to research asked to join the staff at GQ,
t bunch of toys, speaking editing its long-form journal-
lotsam hunters in Alaska, ism. He plans to continue there
ographers whose job it is for the time being but is already
trol debris accumulating planning a second book.
and various toy manufac- "I am beginning to carefully
who shipped toys all over move towards a second (book),"
'rld. Hohn said. "I've got a couple
zn did not plan for his jour- ideas so I'm going to embark on
rough his first book to take another journey, but I hope it
n an actual trip around the won't be so much time at sea and
When asked about the away from my family."
I
RELEASE DATE- Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS
1 Yawn-inspiring
6 "Arabian Nights"
birds
10 Big name in
razors
14 Alpaca kin
15 Pop singer
Brichel
16 Washerful
17 Word on a
French postcard
18 Laurentf
"Jurassic Park"
19 Forever, so to
speak
20 Shareholder's
bonus
23 Dir. ram
Memphis to
Nashville
24 Something to
grind
25 Throw easily
26 Phone bk. info
29 Kitchen island
material
32 Spinning sound
35 "It's a Wonderful
Life" studio
36 Brief fisticuffs
37 It has lots of
slots
38 Invite to one's
penthouse
41 Some
necklines
42 Macaroni shape
44 "1 could win on
my next turn!"
45 Bk. before Job
46 Wrap for
leftovers
50H-Tiki
51 Wimplewearer
52 Window units,
briefly
53 Mud bath venue
56 Laundry
convenience
80 Empty room
sound
62 Roll of fabric
83 Garlicky sauce
84 In ato:
replacing
65 Everyone, to
66 Stops bleeding
67 Sail suppod
68 Meg of "Courage
Under Fire"
69 Have an inkling
DOWN
1 Little shaver
2 Troublemaking
chipmunk
3 Too trusting
4 Madame's "mine"
5 Two-seated
carriage
6 JeftFoworthy
jokes about them
7 Pigged out (on)
8 Word with
sewing or traffic
9 Lisbon mister
t0 Actor Baldwin
1t Creatnd a study
aid in class
12 Was on the ballot
13 Program breaks
21 One in a crowrd
scene
22 Goes back to
sea?
27 Large wedding
band
28 Smidge
29 Witch craft?
30 Balderdash
31 Flat
32 Inflict, as havoc 53 Gazpacho eater's
33 Nametag greeting need
34 Howgrapes grow 54 Furrier'sstock
39 Removethe 55 Hop out of bed
chainfrom, say 57 Boorish sort
40 Doggie 58Jazzy
43 Skid row regular Fitzgerald
4 Crunchysnack 59.. High City:
48 Not at all sacrnd Denver
49 Compromising SThade source
Positions" author 81 "The Bourne
Susan Identity"'org.
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
A L O H A11San L S T E
L I L A C T 1 E 0 iOG
F R E S HMANSENAT 0 R
S A G A A CRLK E
S O P H OMORESLUM P S
I D I H01 H O R N S AHME
J A R E D B L O A T
J U N 1 0 R E X E C UT I V E
E P O N Y M R B I
S H O U T O H 1 0 T A P E
S E N 1 0 R D 1 S C 0 U N T S
E RA T E D G E A D D U P
S E N A S H E R E S I N
xwordeditor@aol.com 09/12/11
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NUMBER.
IT'S HOW MANY MASS
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i 2 3 4 5 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 -11V
17 18 19
20 21 22
23 24 25 28 27 28
29 30 31
32 33 34 35 35
3T 38 39 40 4i
42 43 44 45
48 1 47 49 49
BO 51 52 53 54 55
59 57 58 59
80 8t 82 83
84 85 5s
$T 88 89
By Geis Grabowski and Bruce Venzke 09113/11
(c)2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc,
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